Piano



R. w. GERTZI I PIANO.

APPLICATION FILED JUNEZZ, I9I8- 1,353,903. Patented Sept. 28, 1920.

Invenror. Richard W. Geri by 7%. xi

Iys.

UNITED STATES PATENT OFFICE.

RICHARD W. GERTZ, 0F BROOKLINE, MASSACHUSETTS.

PIANO.

To all whom it may concern:

Be it known that I, Brennan WJGERTZ, a citizen of the United States, residing at Brookline, county of Norfolk, State of Mas sachusetts, have invented an l mprovement in Pianos, of which the following description, in connection with the accompanying drawing, is a specification, like characters on the drawing representing like parts.

This invention relates to pianos and particularly to the wrest-plank or pin-block thereof and the manner in which the tuning pins are incorporated therein.

It is the common practice to make the wrest-plank or pin-block of a piano of wood into which the tuning pins are driven, said tuning pins usually being provided with very fine screw-threads. When the piano is tuned, the tuning pins are turned to tighten or loosen the strings, and in doing this, the

tuner frequently turns the pin more than necessary to bring the string to the proper pitch, in which case it is necessary to turn the pinbackslightly. This turning of the tuning pins back and forth in the pin-block to secure the proper tension on the piano strings has a tendency to loosen the pins in the wrest-plank to such an extent that they do nothold properly.

Furthermore, climatic changes cause more or less swelling and shrinking of a wooden pin-block which also increases the tendency of the tuning pins to become loosened.

One of the objects of my invention is to provide a novel wrest-plank which will overcome the above-described difficulty, and I accomplish this by making the wrest-plank or pin-block of layers of adhesively-united textile fabric densely. compacted together. A wrest-plank having this construction will firmly hold the tuning pins in any adjusted position and the pins will not become loosened either by continuous adjusting of them or by the effect of climatic changes. Moreover, if the textile fabric from which the wrest-plank is made is properly treated it will have water-proof qualities and will not be affected by the weather.

Another object of the invention is to provide novel bushings for the tuning pins which are situated in the apertures of the metal frame, said bushings serving to reinforce the tuning pins at this point so as to hold them properly in position and prevent them from yielding laterally at their free ends under the strain of the piano strings.

Specification of Letters Patent. Patented S t 28 1920 Application filed June 22, 1918.

Serial No. 241,366.

in order to give an understanding of my invention 1 have illustrated in the drawings a selected embodiment thereof which will now be described,v after which the novel features thereof will be appended claims.

Figure 1 is a sectional view through the wrest-plank of a piano and the adjacent portion of the frame;

Fig. 2 is a section on the line 22, Fig. 1; Fig. 3 is a perspective view of one of the bushings.

1 indicates a portion of the usual metal frame of the piano, and 2 indicates the wrest-plank or pin-block in which the tun ing pins 3 are anchored. 4 indicates the piano wires which are secured to the tuning pins 3 in usual manner. I have illustrated in the drawings the three tuning pins to which the three wires 4 for any one note are attached.

In order to provide a wrest-plank 2 which will firmly hold the tuning pins even after continued adjustment thereof, I propose to make the wrest-plank of a plurality of layers 5 of some suitable textile fabric which are densely compacted together, a closely-woven fabric such as canvas being preferable. These layers may be held together in any suitable way, but will preferably be provided with some sizing or adhesive-material by which they are caused to adhere together. The layers of textile fabric 5 are subjected to considerable pressure so that they will be densely compacted together. The tuning pins 3 are of usual construction and are anchored in the wrestplank in usual manner, said pins extending through apertures 6 formed in the frame 1. Situated within each aperture and closely fitting the pin extending therethrough is a bushing 7 of fabric. The peripheral wall of the aperture 6 is preferably provided with inwardly-projecting points or spurs 8 which are embedded in the bushing 7. The bushings 7 will preferably be made from textile fabric and may be formed by rolling a strip of textile fabric into the cylindrical shape required for the bushing, and uniting the layers of fabric by means of some suitable adhesive, preferably one having water-proof qualities. The layers of fabric will also preferably be pressed or compacted firmly together.

The aperture through the bushing is such as to tightly fit the tuning pin and the expointed out in thev terior diameter of the bushing is such that it will tightly fit the aperture, 6. I will preferablyimake the apertures 6 with tapering walls, as shown, said apertures being" larger at the top, and will also preferably formsaid tapering walls with inwardly-directed spurs or ribs 8' which become embedded in the exterior of the bushing and assist inpreventing it from turnlng when the'tuning pin is adyusted.

The bushingsgivesupport to the tuning pins and prevent the latter from giving or yielding between" the wrest plank and the point where'the piano wireis attached thereto. e V V The. textile fabric wrest-plank has the r characteristic that it wiilsecurely and'firmly hold the. tuning pins,;and such firm grip on the tuning pins is not afiected by repeated adjustment of the tuning pins in tunlng the piano. Furthermore, the textile fabric is somewhat elastic and will maintain a firm engagement with the tuning pins under all climatic'conditions, so that change of climate will not cause any gloosenlng of the tuning plns, The bushings 7 also assist in holding the tuning pins ,from'turning be cause of the frictional engagement between the bushing and the tuning pins.

The textile fabric bushings have the ad-' vantage that they will not split as wooden I ,bushings areapt to do.

i The advantage of the tapering apertures:

Gis that the bushings can-be forced tightly into them and the advantage of having the larger, ends of these apertures at the top is thatthe operation of driving the tuning pins into the pin-block will tend to force the bushings more tightly into the apertures.

I claim:

1. A wrest plank for a piano composed of- V a plurality of layers of closely-woven textile densely compacted together thereby to pro- '45 vide' an all-fabric frictional engagement fabricadhesively united face to face and united face to face and densely compacted together, of tuning pins extending transversely throughK'SOnieat least of sald densely compacted layers whereby an allfabric friction engagement with eachtuning pin is provided;

3. The comb nation with the metal frame of a piano, of a wrest plank associated therewith, tuning pins anchored in said wrest plank, said frame having apertures tures and encircling said'tuning pins, each bushing: comprising a plurality of concentric. layers of fabric densely compacted together.

4. The combination with the metal frame of a piano, of a wrest plank associated there,

with, tuning pins anchored in said wrest plank, said frame having apertures through i which the tuning pins extend, and a bushing formed of a strip of textile fabric rolled into cylindrical form encircling each tuning through which the tuningpinsextend, and bushings ofjteXtile fabric fitting said aperpin and filling'the corresponding aperture in the frame: a

5. The combination with the metal frame of a piano, of a wrest plank associated therewith, tuning pins anchored in said wr'estf.

plank, said frame havingapertures through which the tuning, pins extend and which have a progressively-decreasing diameter from the outer 'face'of theframe to that which engages the wrest plank, and bush'-;

ings formed of concentric layers of textile fabric densely compacted together surround V mg each tuning pm and filling each aperiture. r

In testimony whereof, I havesignedmy name to this specification.

, nicHARn w; cniirz, 

